Different Perspectives
by nightowlofdoom
Summary: Careers aren't always monsters. They're generally just perceived that way. Cato/Glimmer.


At the age of eight, Cato's parents put him into the training facility for Career tributes and Peacekeepers. They came to visit him for one day a month, every month. That was the maximum time that was allowed to be spent together. The rest of the time was spent in training. Constant training, from running, to weights, to fighting bare-handed. Leisure time was spent studying ways to be a more effective killer. Captured prisoners from the other districts were routinely brought in to fight to the death with students, and only the newest students had never seen anyone die.

Glimmer had a different upbringing. District 1, the wealthiest district, allowed citizens to rent Games mentors at a price. Former District 2 mentors were extremely popular, and tutored individual children for as long as the parents deemed worth the cost. The blonde girl began at age twelve and ended her training at fifteen.

At eighteen, Cato volunteered for the 74th Hunger Games.

At sixteen, Glimmer volunteered as well.

On his train, Cato talked to his district partner, Clove, at length, and they compared scars from training. Both of them knew only one of them would exit the arena alive, and had known for much of their lives. That made it easier to be friendly.

On her train, Glimmer didn't even glance at her district partner. She gave her mentor her complete attention when she spoke to them, but nothing that she said could have interested her very much. After both mentors had left, Glimmer simply fell asleep.

During the training session at the Capitol, Cato saw her for the first time and went to talk to her. He'd been impressed by her skills and wanted to invite her to join the Career alliance.

When he came over to talk to her, she suddenly felt nervous for the first time since she'd left District 1. She almost stammered at one point, but simply said "Yes, I will" and turned back to watching the boy from District 12.

They're both impressed when they see him throw a heavy weight a short distance. Most of the other tributes couldn't have lifted it.

While Caesar Flickerman interviewed Cato, he asked, as he always did to the male tributes, if there was a special girl back home for him. When Glimmer heard him say there was no one, she smiled all the way through to her own interview.

Day one of the Games. Cato was standing on his platform, and glanced over his chosen team of allies.

He almost missed Glimmer turning her head back quickly. Then the countdown is over and they both ran at top speed for the Cornucopia.

Blood was everywhere, and their group was still standing.

Cato picked up a sword to examine it. He thought it was slightly off balance, and searched for another one.

Glimmer chose a bow, despite not having been as good with a bow as a throwing knife. But the _other girl, _as she thought of her, had already picked up all the throwing knives, and there was no way she'd ever ask her for them.

That night, they've found three tributes and killed them. They saw the light of a fire in the distance and sneaked up behind the girl trying desperately to warm herself. Glimmer noticed a slight indentation behind the girl, along with one footprint. Someone's been there, but she forgot to mention it when Cato offered her his sword. After the kill, she'd forgotten ever noticing it. The group laughed and joked together, and Cato took her hand.

The next day, they've chased the District 12 tribute up a tree. Glimmer tried to shoot her down, but missed with her bow, and _the girl is laughing at her._ Taunting her, even! Cato couldn't explain why that made him angry. He started climbing after her, but couldn't make it up there. Glimmer yelled a few things at her, and suggested that they just wait it out for her to come down. Cato agreed, and they all got ready to sleep.

Sometime during the night, Glimmer woke up cold. Cato was fast asleep, and she couldn't resist the temptation. She crawled over to him and put his arm around her. She fell asleep minutes later with a smile on her face.

She woke up to the sounds of angry buzzing, but she was the last one to start moving. Grabbing ahold of her bow, she took off, but she was covered in more of the angry tracker jackers than anyone else in the group. Her vision was becoming clouded, and she could barely focus. When she fell to the ground, the last thing she could see was Cato's head disappearing behind the brush.

Cato felt a jolt, but he harbored no illusions. One of them would've had to kill the other eventually. He realized that didn't make him feel better, though. Killing the District 12 girl might help, he reasoned.

After the tracker jacker venom hallucinations had stopped, Cato gathered the remaining three tributes in the alliance. They spent the day going back to the Cornucopia. Everything that could be put in a pile, was. Cato had discovered a large number of mines, that they spent the next day burying in the ground in a circular pattern. Leaving the boy from District 3 to guard it all, Cato told the other two it was time to go searching.

An explosion. Everything was gone. The District 3 boy gave no satisfactory answer. His responsibility. Cato snapped the boy's neck in an instant. The other two tributes jumped when he said they need to leave the area.

Cato and Clove are the only two members of their alliance left. Marvel's dead now, thanks to the District 12 girl. The announcement went off that two people could win this year, and they looked at each other in surprise. Both of them had expected the other to be dead by now, but the smiles they exchanged were genuine.

Feast in the Cornucopia. The promise of a useful item. Clove agreed to go grab it while Cato stayed behind, both to protect her from danger, and to take out anyone who came for their own bag. They both looked at each other in shock when they saw the red-haired girl run straight through the middle, grab her bag, and leave without stopping for an instant. Clove didn't hesitate when the dark-haired girl tried the same strategy. Cato watched her, but for some reason she didn't stab her. Then the huge boy comes behind her and is screaming at her. Clove stopped moving after a few seconds, but he didn't go for the other girl. Instead, he grabbed his bag, and Cato's bag and ran away.

Cato chased him. He turned around. Tossed Cato his bag. Cato looked at him, then tossed away his sword. This would be a fair fight. Forty minutes later, Cato felt a few broken ribs, and the other boy is missing three teeth and an eye. They grinned at each other. The words are unspoken, but heard loudly. _Good fight._ They looked at each other, then charged. Cato caught him in the neck, and he began choking. Collapsed on the ground. Cato looked down at him and gave him the salute of the warrior. Then he stepped on his neck until he stopped moving.

Three people left in the arena.

Somehow they've all ended up on top of the Cornucopia. Cato had Peeta, his one-time ally, in his grip. Suddenly he felt something like stroking on his hand, and barely looked down. She's fired her arrow at his hand, and he's now falling backwards into the horde of mutts.

Most of them attack him instantly. Only one refuses to touch him. He looks at the District Twelve girl, and shouts "Please" at her. He's still staring into the beautiful green eyes of the blonde mutt as the arrow hits him in the face. 

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **I did not write this, a friend did.


End file.
